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A horrific gas explosion in a Ukrainian coal mine killed 36 miners yesterday, and 14 others are still missing.

The Emergencies Ministry said the methane-gas blast tore through a shaft of the Zasyadko mine near the center of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk in mid-morning.

Officials said 259 miners were underground when gas and coal dust combined and triggered the blast a half-mile underground.

Rescuers’ efforts were being hampered by fires and scorching heat.

“The situation here is very difficult, the temperature is rising, and rescue workers cannot move forward,” said Mykhailo Klyagin of the Donetsk Rescue Workers Center, adding that 52 rescue teams were at work.

The tragedy is the second accident at the mine in the past three years. A 1999 blast killed 50 miners.

Ukrainian news reports said the government has ordered an investigation.